OXFORD – Will Gleeson’s journey from Melbourne, Australia to Oxford, Mississippi strangely included a stop in New Orleans.

Gleeson was there in late 2012, on “A Tour of States,” when he got a call from his coach at Pro Kick Australia, lining up Gleeson with a visit to Ole Miss that was about five hours way.

“I caught a train here the next day,” Gleeson said.

He committed on Dec. 31, 2012 and first enrolled last fall. After a redshirt season, Gleeson is the favorite to be Ole Miss’ punter on the season opener against Boise State Aug. 28 in Atlanta.

But get this.

Gleeson is only on his second year of punting an American football. In addition to mastering the mechanics with a different ball, Gleeson had to learn the American game itself.

Gleeson played Australian rules football, which is more so a variation of rugby and has no direct comparison to the football he’ll play this fall in the Southeastern Conference. His goal was to go pro in his home sport, but when that option did not present itself, he looked for other options.

“I wanted to get a degree, and thought America would be a great opportunity to come over, play some sport and study at the same time,” Gleeson said.

His brother, Tim, had already done the same; he began his career at Wyoming and is now at Rutgers. Pro Kick Australia also boasts an impressive list of alumni, including the punters at Arkansas (Sam Irwin-Hill) and LSU (Jamie Keehn).

“Basically I think as quarterbacks grow up throwing the ball, we grow up kicking it,” Gleeson said. “We have good knowledge of where to put it and how to use our feet.”

But he still had to make some adjustments, not just in the game.

Gleeson is from Melbourne, a city with a population of more than 4 million. Now, he finds himself in a town of 20,000. In addition to the change in city size, he had to get used to the accent in Oxford.

He has learned, and is still developing, the ability to go from kicking an Australian football low and hard to an American football long and high. It’s an on-going challenge.

Freshman Gary Wunderlich continues to push Gleeson for the starting job of replacing four-year punter Tyler Campbell. But coach Hugh Freeze has consistently said that Gleeson is the frontrunner.

“I’ve grown more comfortable just punting in practice,” Gleeson said. “It was really daunting at first, especially with the shield (three players who stand in front of Gleeson, blocking). I’m slowly getting my game there.

“It was initially rough. It’s a completely different world. But I loved it. Hard transition but everyone, coaches, teammates, particularly specialists, have made it easy for me, and (I) wouldn’t want to leave now.”